Elena Rybakina on Friday said she showed glimpses of her best form during her dominant win over world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals at the BNP Paribas Open, adding that she feels she can beat anyone by maintaining that level.
The world No. 10 thrashed Swiatek 6-2, 6-2 to set up a clash with Aryna Sabalenka.
The Kazakh said that her aggressive style and booming serve made all the difference.
Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY
“Today I was pushing a lot. Overall, some players it’s more difficult to play against,” Wimbledon champion Rybakina said. “With Iga, she’s a tough opponent, but when I play like this and everything goes in... Today in some moments I played at my highest level. There are moments you feel: ‘OK, I can beat anyone if I always play like this.’”
“It’s the goal, but you never feel amazing and perfect every match,” she said. “I think today it was really good from me.”
Rybakina said she was reaping the rewards of the hard work she had done.
“I think I’ve been improving in these four years on tour. It’s just everything coming together — the experience, the team became bigger and I’m working a lot on fitness,” she said. “Just getting stronger a bit physically and just the work we did for the past four years. It’s showing now on the court and with my results.”
Rybakina is seeking to beat Sabalenka for the first time in their fifth meeting after losing to the Belarusian in the Australian Open final in January.
“It’s not going to be an easy match,” Rybakina said. “It’s going to be in these clutch moments that I need to play better. Hopefully now it’s going to change the score between us.”
Sabalenka defeated Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-2, 6-3 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after